Unfortunately Galemp is right.
As for engines, however, I like the idea, and it sounds a bit more feasible than some of the other points. One small problem is the range of stuff affected by the engines... particularly, there should be 'shadows' cast on the ship itself (i.e. even if a point is very close to the engine and facing the right way, if part of the ship model is between them, it shouldn't be illuminated.
This could possibly be achieved using some sort of baked lightmap, but it would have to be separate from the -glow maps, and able to adjust to match the throttle/afterburner/normal pulsing behavior of the engines. But then there might be trouble with the combination of multiple independent engine glows. It could probably be done, though, and a lot more easily than some of the other suggestions you made.
As for reflecting certain things off of shiny stuff, that would be particularly difficult given the way the rendering engine is structured. It's really too old and bloated, unfortunately--that sort of change would require more of an overhaul than a tweak, if I'm not mistaken. The thing is, in order to do it, you'd need to basically draw the scene a second time for each time stuff is reflected.
Also... one small problem here is that you're saying 'lightning' and that's confusing me. I'm here thinking you're talking about lightning (i.e. big bright zig-zaggy branching plasma thingy that happens during thunder storms), when what you mean is l-i-g-h-t-i-n-g. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk saying that, but if it messes with communication, it stands in the way of doing anything.